Leg amputation in piggies - does anyone have any experience?

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gogoguineas said:
aww poor fella, hope he settles and heals well, hopefully get a peek guys, as am going to teejays on saturday ;)
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Hi Bev, well, he's here now. He looks a bit bewildered, poor little mite, but he wobbled to the Readigrass bowl and ate half of that, then I got him some fresh grass from the garden, and he's eaten three small handfulls of that already, so I think the need for syringe feeding is 'on hold' for the moment! :))

He's such a poppet, he really is, he makes me want to cry just looking at him.

x
 
I am sending lots of healing vibes to this dear little fellow. A long while back one of my piggies broke his back leg but it healed just fine. I think I was lucky. Sounds like he is a very brave little piggy and I hope he continues to recover well.
 
MerryPip said:
As folk have said, at least they are leaving him with you and Noel and not some random house sitter or something.

Just do your best and so far everyone that comes to you, problems or not has thrived so you've got a good track record!

Get well soon little Herbie and I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay. x
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To be honest, I have a sneaky suspicion that the owners would have rather left him with us than have him at home for his recovery......they trust us implicitly, and I think the thought of nursing him so intensively was a bit overwhelming for the owner.

I spent half an hour on the phone to the vet this afternoon, information gathering. My plans for Herbie's post-operative care were the same as those the vet recommended, so at least I was on the right track.

I'm taking him to the vets on saturday morning to have his wound check.

We really don't mind putting in the extra effort in the slightest, in fact I love the 'special' furries!

We actually took a vet referral a couple of weeks ago, a female bunny who had recently aborted a litter and had just shut down and stopped eating, The vet recommended us for a change of scenery and some intensive care and nursing....and do you know what? We sent her home a week later in full health, about 50g heavier than she was when she arrived, and raring to go. We were so proud of that, especially considering that the vet had warned us to expect the worst. :(

Anyway, as I'm typing this, little Herbie is nomming on lots of lovely fresh grass, so (fingers crossed) that's a very good start to his recovery!

All those good wishes are powerful things! Many thanks everyone x
 
Teejay said:
We really don't mind putting in the extra effort in the slightest, in fact I love the 'special' furries!

We actually took a vet referral a couple of weeks ago, a female bunny who had recently aborted a litter and had just shut down and stopped eating, The vet recommended us for a change of scenery and some intensive care and nursing....and do you know what? We sent her home a week later in full health, about 50g heavier than she was when she arrived, and raring to go. We were so proud of that, especially considering that the vet had warned us to expect the worst. :(
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You should be very proud! Not many people would take on that in their business and have such a great result. Five star hotel indeed!
 
Hiya Teejay, I have just been alerted to your post, I had an 11 week old boar come into the rescue a couple of months ago, he had had his back leg right up to his hip joint removed because of a break, owners child dropped him. They took him to the PDSA. His scar in the 3 weeks had healed well and infact they wanted me to take him because he had severe mites and they thought the PDSA would PTS. I did advise that this can be treated which is was and did they want him back. They didnt, he is now an indoor piggy, on fleece and living with an indoor piggie in Huntingdon. He moves very well and manages everything, in the begining I had to move the water bottle in his cage lower and had quite a few layers of fleece underhim. If you need to chat my number is on the website or 0790 9970195. Cross fingers, he is a little treasure and a lovely piggie.
 
Best of luck with the boy :). My friend had to have her guinea pig's leg amputated after a nasty break then a mess up at the vet a few years ago- she had the op and made it through everything fine and lived a fair few more years after. I think they had to syringe her for a little while but she bounced back pretty well and the lack of her leg didn't effect her at all. For the life of me I can't remember if it was back or front though. I also have a guinea pig with three useable legs (other one is fused in a badly broken position) and she is fine- though her leg was never removed and it was a front, I think give them a chance and they are pretty adaptable.
 
Tracey i've just caught up on this thread!
OMG that poor little man...

HEALING AND LOVING VIBES AND GIRLIE KISSES FOR YOU HERBIE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Herbie you're one very lucky piggie to have come to such a wonderful and loving and caring home xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo you'll def get the rolls royce treatment!
 
Twoflower said:
Does he have a bandage of any sort on the wound or is it open? I'm curious about how they would handle an amputee on such a small animal.
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No, it's not bandaged. It's actually a very nice looking, neat wound, about 1.5" long. The vet told me (on the phone) that there are also a couple more layers of deeper stitches underneath the skin incision (i assume stitching muscles/tendons together?)

I'll get a photo of the wound later, now that I'm happy Herbie is doing well.

It's quite high up and on his hip and in a really good position, so I'm pretty sure he won't be able to get to the stitches himself.

Tracey x
 
CrawleyGuineaPigRescue said:
Hiya Teejay, I have just been alerted to your post, I had an 11 week old boar come into the rescue a couple of months ago, he had had his back leg right up to his hip joint removed because of a break, owners child dropped him. They took him to the PDSA. His scar in the 3 weeks had healed well and infact they wanted me to take him because he had severe mites and they thought the PDSA would PTS. I did advise that this can be treated which is was and did they want him back. They didnt, he is now an indoor piggy, on fleece and living with an indoor piggie in Huntingdon. He moves very well and manages everything, in the begining I had to move the water bottle in his cage lower and had quite a few layers of fleece underhim. If you need to chat my number is on the website or 0790 9970195. Cross fingers, he is a little treasure and a lovely piggie.
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Hiya, many many thanks for your post! For a minute there, I thought you were also telling the tale of little Herbie-licious (as he's now known :)))! Herbie is about that age, he was also dropped (well, he jumped actually) and he was also taken initially to the PDSA. Herbie's also had his leg aputated to the hip joint.

Herbie's on vetbed at the moment, and he seems to be getting around very well. He's in a 100cm cage with absolutely everything in easy reach. I did think about him reaching up to the water bottle, so he also has a shallow bowl of water in the cage with him.

Many thanks for offer of a chat......it's really appreciated! I may well take you up on that offer!

Thanks again, Tracey x
 
Coconut said:
Best of luck with the boy :). My friend had to have her guinea pig's leg amputated after a nasty break then a mess up at the vet a few years ago- she had the op and made it through everything fine and lived a fair few more years after. I think they had to syringe her for a little while but she bounced back pretty well and the lack of her leg didn't effect her at all. For the life of me I can't remember if it was back or front though. I also have a guinea pig with three useable legs (other one is fused in a badly broken position) and she is fine- though her leg was never removed and it was a front, I think give them a chance and they are pretty adaptable.
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Hiya! Many thanks for your message. It's great to hear all these stories of happy and healthy three-legged piggies; it all sounds very promising for the little fella! :))

Tracey x
 
Ãthas said:
So how is the little one today?
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He's a total star! He's flying around the cage like nothing's happened, he's polished off half a bowl of Readigrass, a handful of coriander, a load of fresh grass and most of a big pile of hay overnight. And the cage is full of poops.....YAY!.....can't believe I'm cheering about a cage full of poops! LOL! :{

He's had his Metacam and Baytril this morning like a very good boy.

I'm so glad we didn't have to syringe feed him, as, although it's such a life-saver, it often seems incredibly stressful for the piggy to me, I normally keep it in reserve as a last resort because I feel it can sometimes make the situation worse. The fact that he's eating a lot all by himself with very little encouragement is a huge relief to us!

I'm a very happy boarder this morning! :)) :)) :)) :)) :)) :))

Thanks for all the vibes! x
 
aww brilliant! can't wait to meet him! very excited about seeing your piggies by the way :(|)
Great to hear he's eating and pooping, looks very promising, bless him! xoxo
 
gogoguineas said:
aww brilliant! can't wait to meet him! very excited about seeing your piggies by the way :(|)
Great to hear he's eating and pooping, looks very promising, bless him! xoxo
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He's a babe, he really is, you'll love him!

My furry gang of 9 aren't too bad either....;)....in fact, they're blimmin' gorgeous!

x
 
gogoguineas said:
aww brilliant! can't wait to meet him! very excited about seeing your piggies by the way :(|)
Great to hear he's eating and pooping, looks very promising, bless him! xoxo
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You'll love them Bev! They are a great little bunch.

9 Tracey? Has there been another addition since that little cutie Cookie who I met last time? You will be bursting at the seams soon!

Makes me feel better about trying to convince Gill we can have two more though! (Trying to convince her having 2 boys outside wouldn't makethem second rate citizens, just different as we can't fit any more big boar cages in teh living room!)
 
Great to hear he is doing so well and enjoying the Readigrass. Our girls came back with a serious habit thanks to you :)) :)) Hope he continues to do well x
 
Sounds great, I'm glad the little one is doing so well! :)
 
aww this is such a lovely story to hear, its so nice to hear that herbie has recovered and doing so well, i was slightly worried i was going to read a really morbid story, it almost brought a tear to my eye. :-)
 
MerryPip said:
You'll love them Bev! They are a great little bunch.

9 Tracey? Has there been another addition since that little cutie Cookie who I met last time? You will be bursting at the seams soon!

Makes me feel better about trying to convince Gill we can have two more though! (Trying to convince her having 2 boys outside wouldn't makethem second rate citizens, just different as we can't fit any more big boar cages in teh living room!)
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Erm.....you got me! I took in another young sow, Humbug (I'm quickly becoming known as The Guinea Pig Lady.....inbreeding). That makes 9......6 sharing the top two levels of the cage and 3 on the bottom level.

That's it now.....no more! Well, unless Maisie and Minnie find their way to me of course (still waiting for the final 'yes' from the owner ?/)

Keep on trying with that convincing! Gill will come round eventually.....or just do what I do.....don't mention it til they arrive! LOL! Surprise!

x
 
chelle83 said:
aww this is such a lovely story to hear, its so nice to hear that herbie has recovered and doing so well, i was slightly worried i was going to read a really morbid story, it almost brought a tear to my eye. :-)
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He's doing really well.....we're off to the vet tomorrow for his post-op check, and I'm sure he'll get a clean bill of health (well, as much as a recent amputee can have a clean bill of health).

He's such a little character, it just makes me want to cry whenever I think of what he's been through, poor little chap x
 
Pics added

Hello! I thought some of you might be interested to see little Herbie-licious' amputation wound (don't worry, it's not too gruesome)

Firstly, the gorgeous little man himself:
phpeaVgLnPM.jpg


Erm...the 'lump' protruding under the missing leg is his.....erm...testicle.....he's never going to be able to be modest again, poor chap!
phpM5XDQEPM.jpg


And another view/photo:
phpbOytLwPM.jpg


As you can see, the wound is lovely and neat. There's a bit of dried blood on the stitches, but that's old (immediately post-op, I suspect). There's no swelling to speak of. He's obviously a bit sore around the wound, he lets you know that he doesn't want you touching him there, but it's very difficult to pick him up without touching the affected area (we have to do a sort of scoop motion and cup his bottom - it's a good job he's such a loving and cuddly boy, and doesn't panic and try to run away).

Tracey x
 
Aww poor little baby. I hope he heals soon and is not in any pain. He is gorgeous.
 
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